Transformational Times, July 10, 2020

Transformational Times

Words of Hope, Character & Resilience from our Virtual Community

Friday, July 10, 2020

In this Issue:

Director's Corner

Adina Kalet, MD, MPH: Kern Institute Renovations Underway!

Editor's Note

Bruce Campbell, MD: A COVID-19 Conversation

Perspective on LGBTQ Issues

Jesse Ehrenfeld, MD, MPH, FAMIA, FASA: The Issues of Bostock and the Supreme Court Ruling on LGBTQ Health

Student Perspective

Spenser Marting, MD Candidate 2023: Telehealth at the Saturday Clinic

Your Turn

Tell us about a book you recently read that you would recommend and why

Send a Letter to the Editor

Archive of Past Issues

Engage on our Blog

Director's Corner

Kern Institute Renovations Underway! Three New Labs, One New Pillar, and a Postdoctoral Fellowship!

In this week’s Director’s Corner, Dr. Kalet describes changes to the structure of the Kern Institute that will supercharge the transformational work of the Kern Institute.

Read the Article

Our Patients Need Your Blood!

The pandemic has changed so much about our day-to-day lives, but it certainly hasn’t changed the need for life-saving blood products for our seriously ill patients.

Current supplies are limited, which impacts our patients with cancer, chronic anemia, and solid organ transplants.

Give the gift of hope. Our patients need you today!

Make an Appointment Today!

Editor's Note

A COVID-19 Conversation

by Bruce H. Campbell, MD

A patient gets his news from different sources than does Dr. Campbell…

My patient and his wife have braved the outpatient clinic restrictions imposed by COVID-19 to return for his cancer follow-up. Over the past couple of years, I have operated on him twice, each time for a malignancy that keeps recurring. He is a delightful and – as even he would admit – a bit exasperating. He speaks his mind and has strong opinions about everything, including his medical care.

A Perspective on LGBTQ Issues

The Impact of Bostock and the Supreme Court Ruling on LGBTQ Health

by Jesse M. Ehrenfeld, MD, MPH, FAMIA, FASA

Dr. Ehrenfeld explains what the recent US Supreme Court decision – Bostick v. Clayton County – does and does not mean for LGBTQ people, and offers ways to get involved at MCW and beyond…

On June 15, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court announced a historic ruling that has catapulted America and LGBTQ equality forward by guaranteeing equal opportunity for LGBTQ people in employment. The 6-3 Bostock v. Clayton County decision is likely to lead to more changes in courts at all levels across the nation in the coming weeks and months. I’ve been asked to give some perspective on the impact of the ruling, and what this means on the journey for complete LGBTQ freedom in America.

Student Perspective

Telehealth at the Saturday Clinic

by Spenser Marting, MD Candidate 2023

and edited by Eileen Peterson

Medical Student and SCU Board Chair Marting reflects on the impact of COVID-19 on the Saturday Clinic for the Uninsured...

“I don’t know.” Just a few days after Milwaukee’s first confirmed case of COVID-19, I hesitated to give an authoritative answer on whether Saturday Clinic for the Uninsured (SCU) would close for an indefinite period. While the course of the pandemic was yet unclear, I felt it imperative that SCU continue to stand with the vulnerable communities it serves.

“For many health-care workers, initial concerns about the rationing of ventilators, masks, and gloves have been replaced with the weighty recognition that the fight against COVID-19 is not a momentary disruption but a new way of life.”

Dhruv Khullar, MD, MPP

"The Emotional Evolution of

Coronavirus Doctors and Patients"

The New Yorker - July 7, 2020

Full Article

"I used to compare myself to my peers and think I wasn't smart enough to become a doctor. I would separate myself from people who were successful in an attempt to make myself feel better.

Much later, I came to realize that there was nothing stopping me from being a doctor except myself. I still fall into the trap of comparing myself to my peers - thinking I'm not doing enough or not special enough.

Even though I still do, I have tried to stop with the comparisons and realize that we all have space to be successful. One of my peers' successes does not make me a failure. I hope that others see this change in me, to becoming a supporting friend and classmate rather than competition."

-Megan Quamme, Student, MCW-Milwaukee

"I hope the interactions I have with others reassure for them that they are valuable and thought of, feeling that their life experiences, hopes, and hardships are ones I genuinely want to know about and support.

I hope they not only see this once they get to know me well, but when they hardly know me at all; much of life is the culmination of the mundane interactions limited by schedules, thoughts that race through our own minds and the distractions on our screens, so it is my sincere hope that the interactions I have with others reflect this value I was so lucky to have learned from my mother many years ago."

-Kate Stark, Student, MCW-Milwaukee

"It is my hope that beyond my somewhat unapproachable physical self that people see someone who is always willing to help, troubleshoot for them, advocate on their behalf, help them see both sides of understanding, and be fiercely loyal when treated with respect."

-Anonymous, Staff, MCW-Milwaukee

"When you get to know me, I hope you see that I am alive today - I have persevered!

I hope that you see that maintenance ECT has helped keep me alive when the darkness of severe persistent depression has covered my mind and my judgement. I hope you see that I am still as valuable as when I was a practicing family practitioner. I once wore a white coat and stethoscope. I hope you see the value in who I am after I left medicine early due to mental illness.

I am still a valuable human being receiving a life-giving treatment. ECT isn't a barbaric treatment from the middle ages. ECT gives me hope, resilience, and lets me live life. I'm not practicing, but I am alive."

-Cheryl Iverson, Medically Retired Rural Family Physician

Respond to next week's reflection prompt:

What book have you recently read that you would recommend, and why?

Submit Your Response Here

Student Essay Contest!

Describe someone you have encountered in the field of medicine who is a character exemplar - what about them and their actions inspires you and your future work?

For definitions of the 24 character strengths, click on the image at the left.

The Kern Institute is excited to launch a character essay contest for medical students across the Kern National Network of medical schools.

The essay is an opportunity to reflect on what character means to you and what character strengths you’ve seen exhibited in role models. All essays will be used for us to better understand how students view attributes that make someone a character exemplar in medicine.

A $25 gift card will be awarded to the contest winner. Essays are due August 28th and should be 700 words or less.

Submit Your Essay Here

Grand Rounds Presentation

A Physician's Story of Recovery

by Adam B. Hill, MD, Pediatric palliative care physician at Indiana University’s Riley Hospital for Children and the author of “Long Walk Out of the Woods ~ A Physician’s Story of Addiction, Depression, Hope, and Recovery.”

August 6, 2020

Live Virtual Presentation

9:00 - 10:00 am CT

Connection Cafe Presentation

A Conversation On Undergraduate Medical Education (UGME) and Graduate Medical Education (GME) in a Covid World

by Kenneth B. Simons, MD, Sr. Associate Dean, Graduate Medical Education, and Executive Director, Medical College of Wisconsin Affiliated Hospitals (MCWAH)